this morning. what's your big takeaway from this morning? >> i want women to lean confidently into ambitions. this is a big tent and i hope everyone will join us at lean in.org. join the community, and tell us what you like so we can grow it together. transfer will be interesting to see what happens after the debate over the book dies down and what women are able to do in a year, two years. are we seeing major change? >> hope to see it at the top. >> at all levels. thanks, ladies. you too, john. celebrity trainer julian

michaels joins us live tomorrow. and cnn newsroom with carol costello begins right now. happening now in the newsroom, breaking overnight. a final good-bye to pope benedict. now the conclave, 115 cardinals, secret ballots, when will we see the white smoke? also, a car in flames. the driver passed out at the wheel, and the heroic officer who saved him. good-bye, mr. bloomberg, hello again, big gulp. >> this was a way to remind you, if you want 32 ounces you have to take two cups and maybe would you only take one. >> it ain't over yet, the ban on

sugary drinks. >> and you are live in the cnn newsroom. good morning, thank you for joining me. i'm carol costello. we begin at the vatican. a new pope could be named hours from now these are the cardinal who's will elect the next leader of the catholic church. they gathered to pray for guidance as they head into an election with no clear front-runner and erupted into applause at the mention of pope benedict, whose shocking resignation underscores the uncertain times facing the church. >> the beloved and venerable pontiff benedict xvi, we renew in this moment all of our gratitude. >> cnn's chris cuomo and miguel f marquez are in rome. benedict, first pope to resign in 600 years. it adds a certain amount of

history and challenges to the process. >> absolutely, carol. it's what benedict did and why he did it. resigning, creating an atmosphere of potential change because it was different. the rationale that the pope offered for doing it. the idea of the level of commitment necessary to the service of holy work. also, infused the atmosphere around the vatican, with we're doing this for a reason. you must be at your best. and with that as the catalyst, have you 115 election fors, the cardinals, going into the conclave tonight, and they have a very big sense of purpose. i was told by a vatican insider. this time is different. not just because of what pope benedict did, but issues facing the church. that said, one of the confusing things that makes this more mysterious is how do you pick the pope when you don't really know each other that well as cardinals.

sure, you have had ten meetings, but there are over 100 of you. how do you do it? it gets tricky. in the conclave, very little speaking. just voting and in latin at that. but they have big power lunches and time at night to find their way through. that's why they lean so heavily on the holy spirit and the idea that there is define intervention in the process, not just because they are all obviously clergy, but they believe they need the guidance. how do we do this? figure this out if we are cardinals, who the best man for the job is. 266th pope. that's what miguel marquez is trying to unpack. miguel. >> chris, it is not an easy process and by all accounts, whoever takes that sage, that balcony at the vatican, whenever the announcement is made, will be the most vetted pope in

history. >> miguel, we're not hearing your piece right now. do i still have you, miguel? are you down over there? >> you do. sorry about that. technical difficulties out here. >> that's okay, miguel. if you can hear me, let's get to the point of what your piece is that you did. which by the way, is a really nice piece. these cardinals have to find their opportunities and balance the dignity of what they see as their holy work with the necessary political actions to figure out who the right man for the job is. >> whatever it is, i can't hear. >> nope. miguel still doesn't have it. carol, i'll answer my own question for you, then. >> appreciate that, chris. >> what miguel took us through in the piece, these cardinals they go to dinner, they have

language sensitive meetings together in country. they try to reach out to others. one of the things we learned in reporting here is that when the foreigners came, cardinals outside of the curia, they were unusually resistant to moving thing as long. and pope benedict issued a decree that you could make the conclave as soon as you wanted, you don't have to wait the normal period, because there is no funeral, and they wanted the time to meet, to get to know each other, get through the novel issues for the church to face. this may last longer than it took to pick joseph ratzinger. they may need the time. >> they have to pick the right person, and they have to take into account the sexual abuse that's gone on and make sure the next pope is a better ambassador

than perhaps pope benedict was, right? young and vibrant and able to connect with young catholics. >> absolutely. and we know this. we know he's one of the men in the room, right? one of the 115 cardinals. he doesn't have to be. could have to pick somebody to be over 80 years of age and not a cardinal at all. in all reality, it will be one of the younger cardinals who is won of the election fors and some suggest a pope alone may not be enough. when you have a new pope, you have a new vatican council. things that need to be changed are of such dimension, proportion, impact on the church it will take a referendum, and one of the frustrations, satellite communications aside, it's hard to report when all of the guys know what's going on

are your honor secrecy under threat of excommunication. >> hard to break a promise to the church and god. we apologize for technical difficulties. onto washington, d.c., shuttle diplomacy, not between warring countries, but between the president and lawmakers. mr. obama will head to the hill to begin three days of meetings with house and senate leaders, on tap today, senate democrats, pitching proposals on immigration, gun control and looking to leaders to jump on board and talk about a budget plan that will hopefully end the gridlock in congress. chief congressional correspondent dana bash live in washington. and giggled over that gridlock comment. tried not to, but i couldn't help it. >> it's hard not to, carol. ian. the president, look, he's going to capitol hill this week, almost more than he was when he was senator. that's how much he is going to be there this coming week. a lot of focus on the meetings

he will have with republicans in the house and senate. not just republicans who say they don't hear from the president much. it's also members of his own party. senator joe manchin, one of the most conservative democrats. could defect on any vote out there. but the president called manchin two years ago when he was first elected and not again until a few months ago to talk to the pro-gun democrat to talk to him about gun control. i talked to senator manchin about what the president should be doing now. >> lack of energy policy. >> he doesn't pick up the phone and call you. >> no, we haven't had that. >> does that surprise you? >> no. everyone has a different style. i wear them out morning, noon, and night. that's my style. president clinton did the same. >> what is the benefit? >> you build relationships. you know what, you have a comfort level where could you say i really want to help, and here is what i think would help. i hope you would consider it. you follow me?

and i hope he takes it as cob strucktive criticism. never been against something nor i would vote against something unless i thought there was a better way of doing it. >> manchin, chief executive himself, governor of west virginia. his style was to reach out all the time, especially to members of his own party and the president should accept that they want to build relationships. you don't need to be invited to dinner, we just want to be heard. five american service members are dead after their helicopter crashed in the southern afghan province of kandahar. coalition officials say it was raining at the time. no evidence that the helicopter was shot down. it is the third fatal crash of a coalition helicopter since september. no report of enemy involvement in either of the first two incidents. tensions high on the korean peninsula after north korea scrapped its 60-year-old truce with the south.

north korean state media say people across the country want to join or rejoin the army. amid tension comes word that nba hall of famer dennis rodman plans to return to north korea this summer. telling khjv, he will vacation with kim jong-un. >> i don't condone what he does, but he's my friend. >> do you anticipate going over there again? >> yes, i had. in august. >> you are going over again? >> yes, vacation. yes. >> rodman sat next to the north korean leader as the two watched an exhibition basketball game in pyongyang. michael bloomberg will appeal a decision to block a city ban on the sale of large sugary drinks. the ruling came just before the ban was to begin. cnn's mary snow has more for you. >> reporter: it was the fist of its kind effort in the country to ban soda, sugary drinks, even some types of coffee beverages

from being served in containers larger than 16 ounces. part of michael bloomberg's effort to fight obesity. but beverage companies, restaurants, movie theaters and others went to court to fight back against what they called a nanny state. just hours before the ban was to take affect, a state supreme court judge invalidated the city's rule, saying it is arbitrary and capricious because it applies to some, but not all food establishments in the city. it excludes other beverages that have significantly higher concentrations of sugar sweeteners or calories on suspect grounds. latte drinks or others that were half milk were not on the list and supermarkets and convenience stores also exempt. the mayor vowed to appeal. >> if we are serious about fighting obesity, we have to be honest about what causes it and have to have the courage to tackle it head on. >> reporter: the american beverage association considers the block a victory.

the court ruling provides a sigh of relief to new yorkers and thousands of small businesses in new york city that would have been harmed by the arbitrary and unpopular ban. local businesses were worried about their bottom line. like this theater that says 30% of its business is from large beverage sales. this is the largest size. 44 ounces. this is the smallest, it's 22 ounces. the theater would have had to lose lar sizes in favor of 16 ounces or less. it had the general manager worried that his small theater would lose tens of thousands in sales. >> on an independent theater like ours, it's a significant hit. >> reporter: the portion control battle continued on late night. >> i think that it is incumbent on government to tell people what they are doing to themselves and let people make their own decisions. >> mary snow, cnn, new york. just ahead in the newsroom, for months, 70 families have

waited to learn how james holmes will plead in the aurora theater massacre. they might find out this morning. i know what you're thinking... transit fares! as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. no? oh, right. you're thinking of the 1.6 million daily customer care interactions xerox handles. or the 900 million health insurance claims we process. so, it's no surprise to you that companies depend on today's xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready for real business. like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air.

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15 minutes past the hour. a man hunt under way in washington state for a man suspected of killing his gran parents. michael boy son's family threw a party for him after his release from prison on friday. and the very next day, police found the elderly couple dead. police describe boyson as unpredictable and dangerous. what do beyonce, ashton kutcher, donald trump, joe biden and hillary clinton have in monday? their personal information and in some cases financial data may have been hacked. the justice department says it could be hacking or docs'ing. a police officer in iowa saves a driver. officer zack mcdowell makes a couple of attempts to get into the burning car. finally able to reach in and

drags the unconscious driver out. driver is in the hospital and is expected to recover. he will face a charge for reckless driving. doing doughnuts when the car crashed into an air conditioning unit and then caught fire. today, could be a major turning point for james holmes. the man accused of killing 12 people inside an aurora, colorado, movie theater. holmes expected to enter a plea. in the past, his attorneys have suggested that holmes could use an insanity defense and that could change the entire case proceeds. jim spellman has more for you. >> reporter: nearly eight months after the aurora theater shooting that killed 12 and wounded 58, james holmes is expected to enter pleas to 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and related charges. >> 109, they need you hot to the front of the theater. >> reporter: court documents indicate that the defense is

likely to file a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. denver dillafficul beller, a de attorney. >> he will be examined by state doctors. any statements made by the state doctors are given to prosecutors. >> reporter: the defense sought to delay the arraignment and have parts of the statute regarding the insanity plea ruled unconstitutional. the judge denied those motions. once holmes enters a plea, the state has 63 days to decide whether to pursue the death penalty. they will take into account the severity of the crimes and other aggravating factors. far from a sure thing. >> a few reasons they wouldn't go for the death penalty, the most important, his mental state. the supreme court and really society has been very clear. we don't kill, we don't execute people who are mentally ill. we just don't do it. >> many family members don't believe holmes is not guilty by reason of insanity. >> do you think he's insane?

>> no. absolutely not. this was months and months of planning and thousands of dollars spent on his part in order to pull this horrific night off. >> jim spellman outside the courthouse now. so, jim, if holmes plead guilty by not reason of insanity, what happens next? >> the judge put out a fascinating order yesterday, carol. it laid out exactly what would happen. he would immediately be subject by examination about his mental health, including a marco analytic examination. a barbiturate like drug to . introduce a near sleep state and interview him. that would be admissible in court. we expect to see holmes on video with no audiotape. i can tell you, his orange hair, long gone. but that dazed look we saw in the first court appearance has been there every hearing i have

seen over the last eight or so months. >> jim spellman. thank you. is closing the white house tours suspending white house tours prudent or pure politics?

now is your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. the question for you this morning, closing white house

tours prudent or pure politics? who would have thought? that suspending white house tours would become a blit al football, passed between the president and conservative republicans. laura ingram, would we save enough money to reopen white house tours if we shut down her let's move tour? donald trump said he would pick up the tab for the tours. >> well, i guess it's political. they want to hurt the people, they want to do something to make their point. they want to do something to in their opinion get things going, even if it's going the wrong way. i don't think it's a big deal, frankly. but it makes us look awfully bad and awfully pathetic. >> they took pay for the tours until end of the fiscal tour. it cost $74,000 a week to run the tours. but the administration says closing the white house to tourists is the least painful way to make those forced

spending cuts. >> the secret service presented options that ranged from canceling tours to potential furloughs to cuts in overtime, and in order to allow the secret service to best fulfill its core mission, the white house made a decision that we would, unfortunately, have to temporarily suspend these tours. >> but some republicans say come off it, it's just pure politics, an effort to make voters more angry at republicans. if that's the motive, it could be working. >> i was upset about it i know how difficult it is to get a tour of the white house and have it lined up and to coincide with his birthday and for him to just turn eight and he had his own bucket list and on that bucket list was d.c. and the white house, and so it was a little bit upsetting. >> voters appear to be angry not just at republicans, but

democrats too. talk back today, . is closing white house tours prudent or pure politics? facebook.com/carolcnn. @krar ohl cnn. oh, hi thehey!ill. are you in town for another meeting? yup, i brought my a-team. business trips add up to family time. this is my family. this is joe. hi joe! hi there! earn a ton of extra points with the double your hhonors promotion and feel the hamptonality. arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards,

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and his new boss told him two things --

cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. good morning. thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. stories happening in the newsroom. the opening bell on wall street after the dow saw its fifth

straight record close, many wonder if the recent market rally is over for now. ringing the opening bell, the management team of vermillion energy. and investors weighing new numbers from the treasury department and a gop budget plan. in two hours, 115 cardinals will begin their secret election nor a new pope. one name will emerge for the successor to retired pope benedict. the cardinals held a mass, and it was the final event before they meet in the sistine chapel. frontier pilots will be carrying ipads. junking 30-pound flight kits will save thousands in fuel costs. political buzz. rapid fire at the best topics of the day. 30 seconds on the clock.

jason john, chief political correspondent for politics 365 and amy kremer of the tea party express. welcome to you both. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> hi, amy. >> welcome back from vacation. >> good to be back, well, not all the way good. 95% good. in about an hour, wisconsin congresswoman paul ryan formally unveils the gop's budget proposal. ryan's ongoing efforts to repeal obama care getting a lot of headlines. in a wall street journal op-ed, ryan talks about his plan to shore up medicare. ryan, sharply criticized in the 2012 campaign for wanting to turn medicare into a voucher system. he writes today in part "anyone who attacks medicare proposal without offering a credible alternative is complicit in the program's demise." our question. is paul ryan right?

amy? >> yes, i think he is right. the medicare trust fund is going bankrupt. not sustainable and we need to do something about it. so somebody else has a better plan, step up to the plate and show it, but at the end of the day, these guys and gals cannot continue to kick the can down the road. not fair to my generation and people younger than me. we need to take care of seniors, but can't do it by kicking the can down the road. >> she is absolutely right and absolutely wrong. you can't criticism without a better plan. but the plan is not a go ahead idea. it's still essentially a voucher plan, which doesn't work for long-term sustainability and i applause paul ryan for coming up with an idea. we've seen it before, throw grandma from the train. not a good plan. >> all right. onto the second question. described as the people's house. but now that the white house tours have been suspended because of forced spending cuss, the number of people visiting 1600 pennsylvania avenue will most certainly be on the decl e

decline. some are accusing the obama administration of playing politics, including one former secret service agent. >> are you seriously going to make the case, the democrats at this point, that there are no cuts to be found other than keeping school kids out of our house, the white house? it's ab such. the idea of it is ab such. >> but the white house which cited the cost of secret service agents stationed along the tour route, says it had no other choice it had to save money somewhere. our question, closing the white house to tourists prudent or pure politics? jason. >> pure politics. barack obama wants to do something big and symbolic. he is missing the real story. he should be talking about faculty members at john hopkins who can't get nih grant to study cancer. he should talk about those being furloughed who only make $25,000

or $30,000. the sequester is a problem. this isn't the only way he can go go with it. >> amy. i think it's pure politics as well. right now at spring break, cherry blossom festival coming up. he is trying to use his bully pulpit to put out there that the sequester is hurting everybody. the sequester has hurt different departments in the country. carol, why doesn't he stop flying back and forth on air force one and being on the campaign trail? i'm glad he's in washington and starting to govern, but at the end of the day, that is our house and we should have the tours going forward, and private individuals have stepped up and said they will pay for the tours. >> yes, they have. in the form of donald trump, right? >> yes. >> onto the third question. president obama kicks off a three-day visit to capitol hill today as the white house and congress try to find common ground on the budget and other

second-term agenda items. first up, the senate, where the president will be meeting with fellow democrats. at least one of them, joe manchin of west virginia says it's great president obama has extended an olive branch to republicans, he needs to reach out to his own party. our question, is president obama neglecting democrats? jason. >> no, he's not neglecting democrats. this has always been the case with obama. with friends like these, who needs enemies? he has republican who's hate his guts, won't work on policy one way or the other. the president, trying to get people back to work, trying to solve the budget problem and the fact that democrats in the senate are wihining because she didn't get involved to the tea party as soon as republicans, i think it's pathetic. get in line, get it done, because people are suffering. >> i am glad that he's back in

washington and governing and i think he knees to reach out to everyone. that is his job. he doesn't just represent the democrats, he is all of our president. he needs to be leading, and we have serious budget issues that need to be dealt with. a $16 trillion debt. we cannot continue down the path. xwlad he's in washington, glad he's governing and leading and bringing people together. i just hope they can do something. carol, i'm afraid it's not going to happen. honestly, we've seen his poll numbers drop in the past couple of weeks. >> that is true. but i'm sure we all hope something gets done soon. thank you for playing today. the pushback on lean in. more criticism facing facebook coo sheryl sandberg. ahead, why some are saying she did not address all of the issues she should have in her new book. revolutionizing an industry can be a tough act to follow, but at xerox we've embraced a new role. working behind the scenes to provide companies with services...

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facebook coo sheryl sandberg making waves as she tries to help women climb to the top of the corporate ladder. >> i want every little girl who someone says they are bossy, to be told instead, you have leadership skills. >> you were told you were bossy. >> i was told that, and every woman i know who is in a leadership position was told that. >> sandberg's book, "lean in" drawing a lot of criticism, like it's aimed at the elite and doesn't address other factors that hold women back like race or gender bias. lisa belchin, huffington post columnist. and reeva wilkinson, author of "journey to the top: how to take charge of your career." >> reeva, i will start with you. i continue to be surprised at the backlash that sandberg's book has created.

why the backlash? >> i think, carol, because there is a one-way conversation going on. you can't talk about women progressing in the workplace unless you are prepared to talk about a two-way situation. have y you have employees and employers. if my employer is not willing to allow me the opportunities that allow me to advance in my career, i'm not going anywhere. the sense amongst women we're being attacked and told we're not wokking hard enough and my generation, we are working our butts off and no matter how hard we work, there are things systematically that continue to hold us back which prevent us from being ceos, from going to the top of corporations and we can't have this discussion unless we're willing to take on these issues headon. >> isn't sheryl sandberg right when she says women have to better learn to negotiate their

salaries, better learn how to ask their husbands to do more in the house so they can devote more time to their career? those aren't controversial things? >> yeah, sheryl sandberg is right and sheryl sandberg is talking about half the problem. she says she's talking about half the problem. she says in her book and in speeches that she is talking about the internal things that hold women back, which doesn't mean there aren't external things that hold women back, but this is what she chose to address. whether or not she should have gone further is what the debate is about. >> and areva, i'd like you to get into a little more as far as -- you seem to be blaming the employer, not the employee. the woman and is it possible that both are partly to blame? >> you know, clearly, carol, there are some things that women can learn to do. yes, we spend more time being liked than being respected. yes, we can learn how to build better relationships, how to pick mentors better, there are

things that women have talked about for decades that can help us be more successful in the workplace. i can't help come back to the issue of the systemic things. i'm an african-american woman. i deal with racial bias, and gender bias and not excuses, because i will get in there, i'll do the job and i know so many hundreds of thousands, millions of women do the same thing. not making excuses, but i want to seat conversation elevated and expanded to include those things that are really going to make a difference ten years from now, 20 years from now. i have a daughter, two daughters, and i tell them every day, you can be the president, you can be a ceo. i don't think women are tellings little girls you are second class citizens, and you can't get ahead. but they run smack into reality, things have to change through legislation and letgation that will make a difference if women are to be equal to men across so many different factors of society.

>> lisa, i'm sure you have ran into some of the same problems while you are on the job. what really needs to change so women can be all they can be? >> well, right now, we're still dealing with a way of working that's archaic. designed for men, when all men had someone, namely a woman, taking care of the home. you have work expanding, no longer 9:00 to 5:00, takes your entire life. and most families, two incomes are necessary to keep it afloat. and you don't have the structures at home anymore that the workplace assist designed assumes. so we need to change the way we work. for men and women. we need to change work. >> i know. and you're right. wont to be great if every employer provided daycare or some -- paid for some care? >> that's a place to start. >> such a great place to start. areva martin, lisa belchin, thank you for sharing this morning.

>> thank you, carol. >> good to talk to you. your personal information might be at risk. talk about not wanting to share. you could be a victim of what's known as doxing. we'll be right back. the american dream is of a better future, a confident retirement.

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46 minutes prast the hour. time to check top stories. track star and accused murderer oscar pistorius is asking for more lenient conditions for his

relea release. he wants to travel overseas so he can sell some assets to settle legal bills. pistorius, charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend on valentine's day. his family denying a bbc report that he is suicidal. congressman ed markey wants to keep small lives out of the airplane cabin. passengers can carry on some small knives beginning in ate april. many flight attendants and pilots apose that change. and the nfl is joining g.e. and under armour to look for quicker ways to identify and treat head injuries. celebrities and high-profile politicians appear to be the

victims of doxing. >> what is that you ask? the hacking of information already available to the public. and now the fbi is investigating who posted all of that info online. showbiz tonight host a.j. hammer following the story. it's very confusing, like why would that be illegal if it's already public and you post it in one place? why would it be illegal? >> doxing is the technique of tracing someone or gathering information using sources on the internet. we can all do it. despite headlines you see about celebrities being hacked, that's what could be going on here. a website boasting the release of a lot of sensitive information for hosts of celebrities and politicians, and for some, the info looks like the kinds of details you might find in a credit report. mortgage information, car loans, past addresses, i like the atlantic's take on the whole thing. they point out, if it is a hack,

probably the most boring hack ever, because among the things you can find out on the site, the fact that hillary clinton used to live at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. not exactly inhave a civinvasiv. and some of the phone numbers don't seem to be current. one of the numbers we tried to call because we wanted to verify it, supposed to belong to ashton kutcher. it belongs to an accounting firm. maybe the place he does his taxes or something. at a minimum, carol, we may want to take this story as a reminder, a whole lot of info about all of us online and anybody can compile it. >> are you so right. a.j. hammer, many thanks. talk back question today. is closing white house tours prudent or pure politics? your response up next. facebook.com/carolcnn. or @carolcnn.

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i'm chris cuomo and this is cnn. live from rome, chris cuomo and anderson cooper leads cnn's special coverage as catholic cardinals elect a new pope. stay with cnn, on tv, online and your mobile app for the latest updates from the conclave. be there when the white smoke rises from the vatican and the new pope is introduced to the world. chris cuomo, anderson cooper, live from rome. a cnn special report. our "talk back" question today is suspending white house tours prudent or pure politics? this from mary, people thought the requester was going to mean

to go on as usual? they're canceling tuition for military members. and nancy, it's a slap in the face to american people. this from hadiya, it's a good idea to show people when we don't work together, things like this can ham. pure politics, though honestly, anything they'll cut no matter how petty it may seem is better than the nothing they've done so far. keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolcnn. or tweet me. michael vick had to cancel his book tour. why the nfl quarterback says his safety was in jeopardy. zap technology. departure. hertz gold plus rewards also offers ereturn-- our fastest way to return your car. just note your mileage and zap ! you're outta there ! we'll e-mail your receipt in a flash, too. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

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it's not like bikers love their bikes more than life itself. i doubt anyone will even notice. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. aarrggh! march madness in full effect. gonzaga put an exclamation point on their argument they should be the top seed for the ncaa tournament. jarod greenberg in with today's "blecher report" hi. >> we have it, dancing in the streets of spokane. gonzaga headed back to the ncaa tournament. monday night, the zags beat st. mary's to win the title, all but talk locking up a top seed when the ncaa tournament is announced on saturday. gonzaga will attempt to win the

men's hoop championship. four other teams punched their tickets, western kentucky, davidson, james madison and iona. the michael vick tour has been sacked. reports have surfaced that incredible threats of violence has caused the quarterback to cancel his signings in new jersey as well as atlanta. back in 2007, you'll recall vick served an 18-month prison sentence for his role in a dogfighting ring. neither snow, nor rain or an earthquake can stop a broadcast. at indian wells in california, while the tennis channel was taping a segment. >> it's flooding through my brain. i keep hearing that particular element of the game. having said that, he coped with it really well. >> those comments were so powerful, neal, we actually just endured an earthquake.

>> you got to keep an eye there. no ashton kutcher showing up to tell him he just got punked township it was a legit quake. the san antonio spurs made a statement last night. logon to check out a recap from the first-place showdown with the thunder. that leads to a big, big tuesday in the nba. the miami heat tonight put the nba's longest active win streak on the line. 18 in a row tonight for the heat, as they take on the atlanta hawks. >> oh, my, the heat is on fire. >> they've been white hot in miami. tonight, they'll try to make it 19 in a row. >> thank you so much. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts right now. happening now in the "newsroom," waiting for the white smoke. the doors of the sistine chapel will close and lock. and then an ancient tradition

will begin. 115 cardinals casting secret ballots for a new pope. looking for an uncommon man. >> church does not run on just hail marys. we've got to work in terms of personnel and money and being effective. i think the question is how effective is the curia in a 24/7. the new york soda goes flat but mayor michael bloomberg is fighting on. >> if you know what you're doing is harmful to people's health, common sense says if you care, you might want to stop doing that. and a car in flames. a man unconscious trapped inside. and then the incredible ending. you're live in the "cnn newsroom." good morning. thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. we begin at the vatican where the process of selecting a new

pope gains new momentum this morning. in just about 45 minutes, this procession of cardinals will begin walking to the pauline chapel. they'll chant prayers along the way as they head into an election with no clear front-runner. even though, the vatican predicts the catholic church will have a new leader sooner than some predict. >> there's a dynamic that takes over once they're in of the sistine chapel. the first vote kind of lays out the names. we will have a pope by the end of the week. i don't think this is going to be a long conclave. and they're well prepared. they know what they have to do. >> cnn's chris cuomo is in rome, along our analyst. tell us about the crew there? >> it's rainy here, it's the rainy here, carol. it hasn't dampened the spirits or the expectations that people have certainly what we've been reading on the face of the

cardinals who are going to make this historic vote. the reason i say it's historic, two reasons. this is a different time in terms of atmosphere and the information that has introduced this. pope benedict xvi didding in that hadn't been done in years, resigning. but also why he did it carol, what he understands about the demand of service. and i think that infused a sense of intensity, of purpose, that will be carried through in this conclave. why do i say that? well, a vatican insider told me that, of course, john allen who has told me every intelligent thing i've said since i've been here. john, when we talk about this environment and what they come to bear in this conclave. we heard father roseica say, he thinks the conclave is going to be longer. >> first of all, god only knows, literally, how long this conclave is going to take place.

look, this is baseball, not basketball. there's no shot clock in the conclave. they go until they cross that magic threshold, 77 votes. and they feel pressure to do this quickly for two reasons, one, they want to have it wrapped up before holy week begins march 24th. if we're still on this platform on saturday, we know what the story is going to be, gridlock you paralysis and infighting. you can imagine the crawl, infighting. and that's the story that the cardinals don't want to tell the world. >> we did know that there was a little bit of tension, right? that the foreigners, the cardinals that don't work in the curia, in the vatican, when they came in, they wanted to meet. they wanted to talk. they had concerns. they weren't so urgent about setting a conclave date, right? >> i think that's true. by the end there was

overwhelming consensus among the cardinals to begin this today. i think that suggests that the different camps, and i think there are some divisions here between maybe the old guard and reform-minded constituency from other parts the world but i think they both felt they got as much accomplished and it was time to vote. >> speaking of votes, we have an inside the conclave. tell them what this is. >> this is a collection from my personal collection of memorabil memorabilia. this is the actual form used in 2005 to count votes. you will see chris -- >> there are episcopalians and presbyterians in, there john. >> well, that's a good take. three orders. cardinal bishops, cardinal priests and the cardinal deacons. and when that bank of three cardinals that counts the votes, this is the form they use to put check marks next to everyone's name to get a final count at the end. what you have to imagine, chris,

in the mind's eye, the first name in 2005 was cardinal joseph ratzinger. by the end, by the fateful fourth ballot, the check marks would have reached all the way down this line back to the top he was elected as we understand with more than 100 of those 117 votes. >> reason that pope benedict and joseph ratzinger, once again, would have been at the top, not because of preference, except that he was the dean of cardinals. so it would have made sense to put him first? >> that's right. he was the senior cardinal in the order of bishops. that's why his name came first. the point is, chris, going into that conclave, i think there was a universal consensus that joseph ratzinger was the front-runner. the problem is, this time, we don't have a clear front-runner. >> part of that, you're explaining to me this week, they're facing a lot of issues. they don't know each other all that well, so they're going to have to work through it. yes? >> that's perhaps right. which perhaps means they're going to take a more thoughtful look at the candidates but also

makes the mathematics of arriving at that threshold of 77 more complicated. >> john and i will be talking, carol, what it takes to get to 77 and how the math works in this situation which he bes us understand how certain people are front-runners, carol. >> many thanks. back here at home. time to check the top stories. in afghanistan, cruise are working to identify the remains of five u.s. service members killed in a helicopter crash in southern afghanistan. the highligh went down in bad weather. the u.s. military says no enemy activity was in the area at the time that helicopter went down. a police officer in iowa put his life on the line to save a driver. dash cam video shows officer zack mcdowell making a couple attempts to get into that burning car. he's finally able to receive and drag the unconscious driver out to safety. the driver is now in the hospital. he is expected to recover. but he will face a charge for recs driving. he was doing doughnuts when the

car crashed into an air conditioning unit and caught on fire. what do beyonce, ashton kutch kutcher, jay-z and hillary clinton have in common? >> they're among 12 names that might have been hacked. the justice department said it could be a case of hacking or doxing. doxing is the posting of information from documents that the public can already access. turning now to "your money." forget about those old debts that hurts your credit score. a new system could eliminate all of that negative information. wouldn't that be beautiful? alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. >> it's a dream come true this it's a new credit scoring model.

equifax,s esperan and transunio. if you got debt that went to collection agencies, that would winds up being wiped off your credit score if you wound up paying them in full. before this, all that stuff stayed on your credit report for seven years no matter what. if you're a natural disaster victim, you'll get special treatment, especially if you work to improve your credit score. all that negative stuff will be ignored. if you couldn't get a credit score because you got limited credit history, you'll actually be able to get a credit score using rent or utility payments. this vantage score will be scored on a 300 to 850 basis. fico, that's still the big credit score. that's the catch with this, carol. vantage score isn't as popular as fico.

the better credit rating you can get with the vantage model, it only matter if it's lender uses it. and you don't have a choice what banks or lenders use. when a tree falls in a forest, it makes a sound -- >> if a tree falls, it makes no sound -- i got it. i did. >> you know, if you have a great credit score and the lender doesn't use it, then what's the point? the whole point is you hope more and more, some of these financial institutions and the credit moreu know, as opposed t using fico. >> absolutely. thanks. new yorkers, you can keep on drinking that big gulp in restaurants and fast food joints and movie theaters at least for now. a judge has blocked a city soda ban that was going to start today. cnn's mary snow is following that story. i suspect mayor bloomberg has not given up yet, though. >> he has not, carol. good morning. the mayor is saying he is

confident that the city will win its appeal. you know, this morning, there were businesses all set to comply with these new rules. those plans have now been scrapped. >> reporter: it was a first of its kind effort in the country to ban soda, sugary drinks even some types of coffee beverages from being served in containers larger than 16 ounces. the idea was part of mayor michael bloomberg's effort to fight obesity. beverage companies, restaurants and movie theaters went to fight back what they called a nanny state. just hours before the ban was to take effect, a state supreme court judge invalidated the city's rule saying it's arbitrary and capricious because it afleiss some but not all foot establishments in the city. it excludes other beverages that have significantly higher concentrations of sugar sweeteners and/or calories on

suspect grounds. supermarkets and convenience stores were also exempt. but the mayor has would youed to appeal. >> if we're saeshs fighting obesity, we have to have the courage to tackle it head on. >> reporter: the american beverage association considers the block a victory. the court rule provides a sigh of relief to new yorkers and thousands of small businesses in new york city that would have been harmed by this arbitrary and unpopular ban. local businesses were worried about their bottom line which this theater that says 30% of its business is from large beverage sales. this is the largest size, it's 44 ounces. this is the smallest, 22 wounou. the theater would have had to lose those large sizes. it had the manager worried that his small theater would lose tens of thousands of sales. >> on an independent dealer like ours, it's a pretty significant

hit. >> reporter: the portion control battle continued on late night. >> i think it's incumbent on government to tell people what they're doing to themselves and let people make their own decisions. >> carol, that movie theater you just saw there was among businesses that held off making any changes until this lawsuit was resolved. they will now wait on an appeals judge to make a final decision. carol? >> we'll be watching, too. mary snow reporting live from new york this morning. just ahead in the "newsroom," the celebration is over, it's the final minutes before 115 men go inside to select the next pope. we'll take you to rome and the conclave next. ♪

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and congressman with the list wanting to keep small knives out of airports. the senator from massachusetts is urging tsa to change its plan. >> harvard university now apologizing to faculty and staff after a secret e-mail search. the school says it was trying to find a source of a leak about a campus cheating scandal. harvard said the search focused on the e-mail accounts of resident deans. but said no e-mails were actually opened. frontier airlines is going high-tech soon. you will not see pilots carrying those flight bags containing manuals and navigational charts. instead, those pilots will be carrying ipads. the airline says junking those 30-pound bags will actually save thousands of dollars in fuel costs. shuttle diplomacy on capitol hill. president obama heads there just about two hours.

he'll meet with senate democrats face-to-face to try to rally support for a proposed budget plan, immigration reform and also gun control. the president will spend three days meeting with house and senate leaders. also in just about 15 minutes from now, congressman paul ryan plans to reveal the republican budget plan. some of president obama's top priorities on the proposed chopping block. chief congress 'correspondent dana bash is live with a preview. good morning. >> good morning, carol. that's right, paul ryan will be here at this podium in about 15 minutes. he's going to talk specifics about his budget that he's going to unveil and it really will illustrate the very wide gap between republicans and democrats on these economic issues just before the president comes here for his first meeting on capitol hill. >> reporter: running for vice president, paul ryan argued constantly against raising taxes. >> what we don't need is a tax increase on successful job creators that will cost us 700,000 jobs. >> reporter: but months later,

republican leaders gave in on raising taxes to avoid tumbling off the fiscal cliff. and now ryan's new budget claims to be balanced in ten years. how? in part by counting revenue from the very tax increases republicans opposed. democrats are eager to point out the irony. >> it tells me that, you know, republicans are prepared to pick and choose. which of the policies they were for before. or against in terms of how they put together their budget. it adds up right now with a lot of gimmicks and scotch tape. >> reporter: the biggest gimmick say democrats. ryan's ten-year balanced budget counts money from repealing obama care which has no chance of happening in the future. the host of fox news sunday was incredulous. >> are you saying as part of your budget, you would repeal, you would assume the repeal of obama care? >> yes. >> well, that's not going to happen.

>> well, we believe it should. >> reporter: maybe so, but house republicans have voted to repeal or chip away at obama care 35 times going nowhere. senate democrats will unveil their budget, too. cnn is told it will include tax increases. it's the first senate budget in four years. it's become gop sport to illustrate that. >> ten shuttle missions. >> ipads didn't exist the last time the budget passed a budget. >> i'd like to introduce everybody to my daughter sarah. all of her life there's not been a budget in this country. >> but, carol, there will be a senate budget for the first time in this week. it will look very different. we're told there will be proposed $1 trillion in tax increases. that's right, trillion, with a "t," dollars with tax increases. in addition to spending. they don't suggest or say they don't plan to balance the budget

in the future, never mind trying to do it in ten years. >> does either of these budgets have a chance of actually passing and going anywhere? >> each will pass their own chamber, likely, because the house is run by republicans. they probably have enough votes to pass there. the same goes with the senate where it's run by democrats but, look, ultimately, no. these are political documents, that's generally what budgets are, to lay out the priorities of each party. and realty work is going to have to be done, as it usually is, behind closed doors which is why the talks that the president is having this week with not only members of his own party but republicans are very important. some saying it's a dog and party show which also may be true. >> dana bash reporting live from capitol hill. "talk back" question to you, is closing white house tours to the public prudent or pure politics?

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live from rome, chris cuomo and anderson cooper leads cnn's special coverage as catholic cardinals elect a new pope.

stay with cnn, on tv, online and your mobile app for the latest updates from the conclave. and be there when the white smoke rises from the vatican and the new pope is introduced to the world. chris cuomo, anderson cooper, live from rome. a new pope, a cnn special report. now you is your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. the question for you this morning, is closing white house tours to the public prudent or pure politics? who would have thought that suspending white house tours would become a political football passed between the president and the conservative republicans. laura ingraham tweeted, quote, would we save enough money to shut down the let's move tour? piling on, donald trump who said he'd be glad to pick up the tab

for the tours. >> well, i guess it's political. they want to hurt the people. they want to do something to make their point. they want to do something to in their opinion get it going even though it's going in the wrongs way. i don't think it's a bad deal but it makes us look awfully bad and pathetic. >> trump's offered to pay for the tours until the end of the fiscal year. we're not talking about chump change here. the administration says closing the white house to tour is the least painful way to make the spending cuts. >> the secret service presented options that range from canceling tours to potential furloughs and cuts in overtime. and in order to athroughout secret service to best fully its core mission, the white house made a decision that we would unfortunately have to temporarily suspend these tours. >> but some republicans come off

it. it's just pure politics. an effort to make voters even more angry at republicans. if that's the motive, could be working. >> i was pretty upset about it just because of the fact that i know how difficult it is sometimes to get a tour of the white house and to have it lined up and coincide with his first day. and for him to just turn asset and he his own bucket list. on that bucket list was d.c. and the white house. so it was a little upsetting. >> except voters appear to be angry, not just at republicans but democrats too. "talk back" today, is closing white house tours to the public prudent or pure politics? facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me @carolcnn. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online.

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costello. thank you so much for joining us. checking our top stories now. just about 30 minutes past the hour. any minute now, former vice presidential candidate paul ryan will roll out the republicans' budget plan on capitol hill. the wisconsin republican says it will cut spending by $4.6 trillion and balance the budget in ten years all without raising taxes. how? with more oil drilling, repealing obama care, overhauling medicare and simplifying the tax code. in just an hour, 115 cardinals begin the long process of selecting a new pope. today is all about tradition and ceremony for the catholic church. one final public mass wrapping up before the conclave. and then the cardinals will lock themselves inside. anchor chris cuomo and miguel marquez join us from rome. chris, let's start with you. tell us what happens in the next 15 minutes. >> all right, carol. this time, we have good

information. when it comes to who the front-runners are, i have nothing because this is such a secret process. you but we do know that this is intensity detailed ritual. as the cardinals make their way from this thing now, they're going to go to the pauline chapel. obviously, saints peter and paul, the patron saints of rome. they'll make their way down the procession down the hall of blessings. takes about a half an hour. as they go down, they're chanting at first. saying out the names of certain saints. everybody responds in unison "pray for us." they go for all the different saints and start singing a hymn to the holy spirit and eventually make their way into the sistine chapel. once in the sistine chapel in unison, they take an oath of secrecy to protect the goings-on of the conclave. then every cardinal individually

must go up to the altar and make the oath, promise to confirm the oath that they all just did in unison. so there's two layers of secrecy to it. then the master of ceremony there who is running it, he will close the doors and he will say the famous line, in latin that means "everybody get out." everybody who is not necessary has to go. the door is shut, carol. they lock it. that's where the word "conclave" comes from, latin for with a key. they're literally locked inside to do their business. >> then they take a series of votes. it could happen in one day, two days, three days? we don't know? >> well, then then go through, again, a reallprocession of eac cardinal having written the ballot, the name. he holds it up and each one is signeded. an there's a reason for that even though you don't want it to

be too easy whose ballot it is, you may need to because a cardinal cannot vote for themselves. to verify a very close vote, you have to know, make sure they didn't. then they go up for their ballots. the ballots are tallied. a lot of checking there. we hopefully get a pope sooner than later. >> thank you, chris. of course, you don't select a pope without knowing his background. you won't believe where cardinals vet the next pope. miguel marquez has that from rome. hi, miguel. >> hello, there, carol, yeah, this is hugely important decision always. this time around from all accounts it's much more important. this pope will be the most vetted pope in history. ♪ >> reporter: in the politics of becoming pope, there's never been a race quite like this. the church's problems, enormous. the need for a powerful, unifying pope, never greater. >> we have to finish this. we have to get on with this.

if we don't do this, it's over. blow the candles out. >> reporter: the new pope will have to envig invigorate the church. >> it has to work in terms of personnel and money an being effective. i think the question is how effective is the curia in an internet 24/7 world. >> reporter: from the time a cardinal becomes a cardinal, the race is on. they're judged by their religious and spiritual heft, even their ability to communicate in italian. politicking done, support secured in formal settings, and often in out of the way and unlikely venues. this has been the restaurant just around the corner from the vatican. cardinals come here in ones, twos, they have lunch, dinner, perhaps a little wine.

it's in places like this where a lot of heavy lifting is done. it's served meals to connected and powerful vatican insiders for 21 years. dozens of cardinals have been here the last couple of weeks, she says. when you're at the table, you decide things. deciding important for many reasons, as one cardinal jokingly told her during his last meal here, when the conclave is under way, he eats bread and water until a new pope is named. >> now, they certainly want to get that vote done. the first one will be in about 3 1/2 hours. now, we do not expect to see white smoke. that would certainly be a rare thing. we are hoping that by thursday, maybe friday, we'll know who the new pope is, carol. >> we hope so, miguel marquez, reporting live from rome. just ahead, "talk back" question for you today. is closing the white house to tours prudent or pure politics?

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live from rome, chris cuomo and anderson cooper leads cnn's special coverage as catholic cardinals elect a new pope. stay with cnn, on tv, online and your mobile app for the latest updates from the conclave. and be there when the white smoke rises from the vatican and the new pope is introduced to the world. chris cuomo, anderson cooper, live from rome. a new pope, a cnn special report. just minutes ago, republican congressman paul ryan released his budget proposal that he says will eliminate the deficit by 2023. now, the plan hits the main gop high notes, less spending, lower tax rates and a rejection of president obama's health care reforms. >> what we have here is the

house budget committee, republican majority. putting up yet again a budget that addresses america's needs. a budget that balances the budget. it's a path of prosperity and a responsible balanced budget. we believe that we owe the american people a balanced budget. and for the third straight year, we delivered. in fact, we balanced this budget in just ten years. this is a document, a man, that balances the budget in ten years. >> senate democrats are set to release their budget tomorrow. and party leaders wasted no time in slamming paul ryan's proposal. >> now, i know that congressman ryan is held out to be this guru who understands things so well. what he understands is gimmickry. and that's what he's done so well. he's pulled the wool over their eyes of those people in the house. and they continue to following him. >> both sides are likely to view

each other's proposals as d.o.a., as in dead on arrival. joining us to talk about that, jason johnson the chief political responsibility for political 205. and republican strategist liz mayer. thank you for being here. >> good morning. >> let's talk about ryan's budget. it will probably pass the house because out house is, of course, controlled by republicans. but after that, it's likely to go nowhere, so, liz, what's he trying to accomplish, especially since his budget is predicated on obama care going away? >> well, i believe ultimately he believes he has to put a budget forward. i think he thinks that's his job first and foremost. and i think second to that, paul ryan likes to be a leader in terms of ideas, so putting proposals forward is very important for him, even if they are proposals that ultimately will not move anywhere else or if the senate will ignore them. because that is sort of his way

of setting benchmark for where he thinks the country should be going philosophically. >> i'm not saying, jason, that senate democrats are going to release a plan that's any more bipartisan because they're not. according to dana bash, even a dollar is too much for republicans. so what are we to take from this? >> you know, republicans are screaming and yelling that obama is playing politics by closing white house tours. this is paul ryan playing politics. what have we just done for the we've talked about the ryan budget and the republicans lost the election. people don't like this budget. they don't like his cuts. they don't like his plans. while he's doing his job which is sincere, it's not going to go anywhere. i think that's what's being missed when he makes these presentations. >> president obama is going to, i guess you would call, shuttle diplomacy, he's going to spend three days on capitol hill talks to leaders from both parties. i guess he's going to try to get

both sides together with their budget proposals. will he succeed? >> i don't really think so. i think barack obama -- it's like bringing the jets and the sharks together. they'll dance. they'll spin around in circles but they're not really going to get anything done. i think we're really going to see the end of the sequester battles sometime around late this week, early next week because that's when people's paychecks are starting to get affected. that's when the 8%, 10%, 12% in cuts are showing up. republicans are going to get calls, democrats, i don't think this is anything more than dancing right now. >> i want to talk to you about the white house tours. as you know, they've been suspended in the quake of the four spending cuts. the obama administration says it's the least painful way to enforce the plan. >> secret service presented options that ranged from canceling tours to potential furloughs. and cuts in overtime. and in order to allow the secret

service to best fulfill its core mission, the white house made a decision that we would unfortunately have to temporarily suspend these tours. >> but some republicans say this is just an effort to make voters even more angry at republicans. so, liz, what is -- i mean, what's behind the suspension of these white house tours? is it pure politics or is the white house trying to save money? >> it's probably a bit of both. in practice, i think this is overblown by republicans. anyone who has lived in washington, d.c. or traveled here repeatedly in ten or so years knows that getting a white house tour in the wake of 9/11 has been tricky for your average american anyway. i don't think this is something that's going to have a dramatic effect on people in any way shape or form. it's an interesting thing to argue back and forth about. certainly, it's dominated a lot of chatter on twitter. i don't think it's anything of

substantial concern. certainly, it is not to me, as a republican. yeah. >> but, jason, but this is something people can actually feel. you mentioned you're going to start feeling it in your paycheck soon. this is something that voters will feel and perhaps that will make them apply more pressure to lawmakers to come together on these budget proposals? >> yeah, this is like dad cutting the kid's ice cream budget so it will pressure mm to give her lexus back. that's what's going on. barack obama is like i'm going to take this away from kids and parents to claim the american people and i don't know if they'll going to want to give back that lexus. for them to recognize not just the symbolic, but the actual day-to-day impact of families out there losing $200, $300 a paycheck. so do i thinks good politics? no, do i think obama's playing politics? yeah. but then again, the republicans are playing politics with people's lives and their

well-being. >> thanks to both of you. i want to get to the "talk back" question. oh, wow, we have to suffer by not touring the white house. what a spoiled people we've become. get over it. this from rob. pure politics. i want to see pictures of the obamas cook their own meals and washing their own dishes because they furloughed the kitchen staff. this from bennie. mental health care professionals taking care of our returning veterans are about to be furloughed. this is travesty. the number of families saving money for college has hit an all-time high. we will tell you how much next.

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49 minutes past the hour. time to check top stories. five u.s. servicemembers have been killed in a helicopter crash in southern afghanistan. chopper went down in bad weather. the nato-led security forces there was no activity in the area. james holmes goes to court in colorado in about 15 minutes. he's the man accused in the july shooting rampage in a movie theater that killed 12 people and left 58 others injured. holmes' attorneys have suggested they had might enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. that could make it harder to get a death penalty conviction. to the vatican now where in just about 30 minutes, 115

cardinals will begin their secret election for a new pope. eventually, one maname will emee as the successor for the pope. a mass before they locked themselves in a chapel to begin their work. good news for universities. a new study shows american families are socking away more money than ever so their kids can afford tuition fees. actually, i think that's better for the parents than the universities. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. good morning. >> good morning. it's good that a lot more americans are contributing to these 529 savings accounts. here's the thing, though, the average 529 college savings account, it has just over $17,000. it's not really a lot of money but it is up 12% from last year. believe it or not, that's a record high. $17,000 is basically enough for one year at a public university, if you're lucky. you know, it's not all good news

in this study by the college savings planet work. the number the accounts with cricks has actually fallen in each of the last three years, 49% in 2012. what that essentially means is that a lot of accountholders out are letting the market do the work. meaning they've stopped actually putting in money every year. only about 6% of college students are actually paying for college with 529 money. so the reality is, not many students are using 529s to pay for college. they're going with other options. even though we're saving more, college, we all know this, it keeps getting more and more expensive. it's just really, really hard to keep up with those costs. carol. >> it certainly is. alison kosik reporting live. after a break, we're going back to rome because the cardinals are now prepared to vote. it will start at anytime now. ♪

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♪ oh, it is a rainy day in rome. at the vatican, but there say accepts of history in the air. and just over a half hour, the cardinals, 115 cardinals, will march in procession to the sistine chapel. actually, they'll be entering the pauline chapel eventually. and there they'll take an oath of secrecy and get down to the business of selecting a new pope. those cardinals they'll cast

votes in an election that has no clear front-runner. all morning, they've prayed for guidance in selecting the right man to lead their beloved church. cnn's chris cuomo is in rome. he's following all the proceedings. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol, i can tell you, all this energy coming from above in this city right now where these cardinals are looking for divine inspiration, the italians call them storm cells that come through. they've created an energy here that has not dampened in any way the spirits of the influence for what's about to begin. this really historic conclave where the church dealt with the resignation of pope benedict now moves forward after the general congregations where cardinals are really dealing with difficult issues about fiscal responsibility. what the response will do to the sex abuse scandal. big, big things that will require the change of a leader who can carry this burden. >> i know, you know, italians

are largely catholic, but even they have been disenfranchised with the catholic church. is there a sense that most italians are paying attention to this election? >> reporter: you know, carol, it's really the right question. certainly, there's popular enthusiasm. you see it in the newspapers. whether or not you're a believer, just a spectacle of the event. the mystery of it, the secrecy of it that it's so old, it's been going on for long. it's a secretive process but the best one known in the world. there is no question, however, depending on how you want to look at the catholic church, it's either in a period of growth or decline. when you look at africa, when you look at asia. supporters of the church will say it's growing. >> reporter: very briskly. there's a feeling that with laity that the church has lost touch. now the cardinals have to deal with all the different themes in

how to move forward for the church. >> chris cuomo, we'll be back to you live. we have to take a break, though. thanks, chris. we'll be right back. i know what you're thinking... transit fares! as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. no? oh, right. you're thinking of the 1.6 million daily customer care interactions xerox handles. or the 900 million health insurance claims we process. so, it's no surprise to you that companies depend on today's xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready for real business. [ kids ] yes! it's better to be fast to not be bitten by a werewolf and then you'll be turned into one and you will have to stay in and then you'll have to get shaved because you will be too hot and then you're like... [ growling ] which means i wish i was back to a human.